(1981 – 1987)
Founders
- Vincent Lavery, left Northern Ireland as a child and grew up in Fresno, California.
- Father Wallace, in Northern Ireland
- Rev. Jimmy Arbuthnot, in Northern Ireland.
- Peggy Barrett, left Northern Ireland and lived in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Program
- 7-week homestay program with American families.
- Included children aged 11 through 18.
- One Catholic and one Protestant child shared a room.
Northern Ireland Program
- NI Coordinators promoted the program and selected the children.
- Children were paired by NI Coordinators by geographic proximity so that friendships developed in the U.S. could continue in NI.
- CC10 hosted a Christmas Party in Belfast each year for all the children and their families and called them reunions.
In 1986, Lavery expanded the program to include 16 Lebanese children.
In 1987, Barrett and some NI Coordinators separated to focus solely on NI teenagers.